A wound is a break in the skin that is caused by a cut or a scrape. To minimize the possibility of scarring and/or infection, wound care treatment should be performed based on several factors, including a patient's age, wound size, wound location, wound severity, etc. The wound treatment is based on the type of wound (i.e., “light” or “severe”) and can vary based on one or more of the factors listed above. For example, a light wound generally requires few dressing changes and, as such, it may only require a plain cloth bandage, e.g., BAND AID® adhesive bandages, for keeping the wound clean during the healing process. In general, light wounds are the types of wounds that do not require special treatment care, e.g., lights scrapes or cuts.
In contrast to light wounds, severe wounds require special treatment care. Treatment of severe wounds is generally performed in accordance with specific treatment directions that are generally customized to each individual patient based on one or more of the factors listed above. Because of the complexity of the severe wounds and the varying individual patient factors, treatment of severe wounds is not simple or straightforward. Although treatment of a light wound may be as simple as applying a single plain cloth bandage to the wound, treatment of a severe wound requires appropriate treatment that seeks to address problems that cause the severe wound. Thus, the treatment of a severe wound requires proper instructions, which may change during different stages of treatment, and proper application of the instructions, which must be followed precisely.
Treatment of severe wounds, including chronic wounds, is generally directed to healing through secondary intention, which refers to the wound closing by contraction and reepithelialization. For example, if there are post-operative complications such as infections, wound dehiscence, excessive scar, or excessive drainage, the wounds would heal by secondary intention. In other words, the wound is allowed to heal by forming granulation tissue from a bottom of the wound outward. In contrast, primary wound healing (or healing by first intention) occurs when the wound is not contaminated, dead spaces are closed, tissue is handled gently, hemostasis is achieved, and the tissues are approximated accurately.
One type of severe wound is a chronic wound, such as a pressure sore, a diabetic foot ulcer, and an arterial ulcer. Chronic wounds have been referred to as wounds that do not heal in an orderly set of stages and in a predictable amount of time. In fact, chronic wounds may take years to heal or may never heal. When treating chronic wounds, the person performing the treatment generally addresses the cause of the chronic wounds, including ischemia, bacterial load, and imbalance of proteases. Some methods used to ameliorate the cause of chronic wounds include antibiotic and antibacterial use, debridement, irrigation, vacuum-assisted closure, warming, oxygenation, moist wound healing, removing mechanical stress, and adding cells or other materials to secrete or enhance levels of healing factors.
Regardless of whether the person performing the treatment is a wound care professional (e.g., doctor, nurse, etc.) or an end user (e.g., wounded person, family, etc.), that person must follow precise treatment directions and use any required wound care products for severe wounds properly. For example, the person performing the treatment on a sever wound must know how to use and apply wound care products such as wound dressings, gauze dressings, and bandages. The problem is that often the treating person lacks any knowledge of how to open the wound care product, how to use it properly, how to remove it properly, etc.
For example, when using a wound dressing impregnated with a variety of substances, such as hydrogels, saline, antimicrobial agents, and other substances, the treating person often does not know whether the wound dressing is appropriate for use for a specific type of severe wound in a specific patient. Accordingly, one problem associated with some impregnated wound dressings is that they fail to provide usage information, such as usage directions in a suitable manner for use by the treating person when treating the severe wound.
Many wound care products are individually packaged as single-use wound care items, which, in turn, are packaged in containers housing a plurality of the single-use wound care items. Although printed information, such as usage information or directions, may sometimes be provided on the container, the single-use wound care items lack similar printed information or any printed information. Often, the container is discarded and the treating person is left with single-use wound care items that, in many instances, lack any kind of printed information, such as usage information or directions. In fact, especially in a health treatment facility (e.g., a hospital), the container is likely to be inadvertently misplaced or discarded based on constant change of personnel, patients, and care. If the container is unavailable, the printed information generally available on the container is also unavailable to the treating person. Thus, the treating person may be forced to apply a wound dressing without the benefit of the printed information, such as usage information or directions. Likely, the treating person may use blank (information-less) items, and, therefore, increase the potential for wound care errors and waste caused by an improper initial application and the need for a re-application of the wound care product. Alternatively, if the treating person chooses to err on the safe side, he or she will likely discard any unused wound care products and, accordingly, increase financial waste associated with the health care costs.
According to some statistics, wound care financial waste translates into high medical costs—financial waste accounts for 25-40% of all hospital costs (e.g., a total medical error cost of $9.3 billion, with an increased cost to hospitals of $4,700 per admission). Wound care errors also translate into fatal results—approximately 98,000 people die in any given year from medical errors that occur in hospitals (deaths due to medical error exceed suicide, which is the eighth leading cause of death). Furthermore, the statistics show that 1 in every 20 patients contract an infection in the hospital and that 40 to 50 patient injuries per 100 hospital admissions are injured by hospital care. Thus, improved treatment care of severe wounds can reduce hospital infections and financial waste.
Another problem associated with some wound care products is that they fail to provide efficient means for correlating relevant wound information to a respective wound patient. After dressing a wound, the treating person must generally rely on memory or on clear communications to remember, for example, when to change a wound dressing. In health care settings, overworked and/or inexperienced professionals and confusion created by frequent medical procedures on the patient are some exemplary causes of human error when treating a wound. Thus, the potential for improper wound treatment is high based on the high potential for human error. For example, miscommunication between professionals regarding changing a wound dressing can result in a wound dressing being changed too soon or too late. In turn, the improper changing of wound dressings can delay the healing process (e.g., if the wound dressing is changed too soon) and/or can increase the potential for infection (e.g., if the wound dressing is changed too late). In another example, a wound care professional may forget any special conditions associated with a particular patient. Applying the wrong wound dressing can have serious adverse, and potentially deadly, effects on the patient.
Therefore, a need exists for a wound care product that includes printed information for treatment of a severe wound, such as usage information or directions on an individual single-use wound care item, and/or that provides efficient means for correlating relevant severe wound information to a respective wound patient. The present invention is directed to satisfying one or more of these needs and solving other problems.